Gold’s fans advocate owning the yellow metal as a hedge against inﬂation and stock market disaster. But other investors, including Warren Buffett, believe it has no role in a modern portfolio.
Over the long term, he says, gold is no match for a diversiﬁed portfolio of stocks and bonds. Since 1986, the price of gold has increased by roughly 200%; in the same period, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 900%. If you’re determined to own gold, it’s best notto hold it in physical form.
A safer—and cheaper—approach is to buy an ETF backed by the precious metal, in any given year, gold can outshine stocks (and vice versa), but over the long term, equities beat the precious metal.

MetaTrader 5 is here!
It’s been years of planning, months of implementation and many requests from you our valued traders. But the time is here, GT247.com is bringing you the best of the best in trading platforms, a new and improved institutional multi-asset trading platform… MetaTrader 5 (MT5).
We know that successful trading starts with the right tools and platform, so we wanted to bring you the best around. MT5 offers outstanding technical analysis tools, charts and strategies, automated trading systems, copy trading and much much more. The platform is very user-friendly for the beginner trader, but also has the most advanced tools and capabilities for our experienced traders.
So what does this mean?
We will start the first phase of the old to new transition next week, this will happen in batches and will be communicated to you directly, we plan to have everyone moved across to MT5 by the end of October. We understand change is difficult for some, but we are confident MT5 will bring huge benefits and value to your day to day trading.
Your money
In order to make this process seamless with no impact on your trading, your funds will automatically be transferred into your new MT5 account.
Keep an eye out for a link to your new MT5 demo account, so you can familiarise yourself with the new platform.
Understanding the platform
Our dedicated trading desk will be working around the clock to ensure that you are comfortable with the new platform before you place your first trade. Our short video tutorials are easy to understand, but help is just a click (or phone call) away.
Your overall trading experience and needs are very important to us, which is why we are confident that our new platform will give you all the functionality you need to be a successful trader.
If you have any questions or concerns, we're here to help.
Kurt Solomon | GT247.com brand manager.

ACQUISITION OF MERCANTILE BANK HOLDINGS LIMITED AND ITS
SUBSIDIARIES (“MERCANTILE”)
Shareholders are referred to the SENS announcement dated 18 June 2018 that Capitec Bank, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Capitec, made a non-binding offer to purchase Mercantile. A further notification, included in Capitec’s interim results published on SENS on 26 September 2018, stated that Capitec Bank submitted a formal bid on 31 August 2018 to acquire Mercantile. The offer was made subsequent to the conclusion of a detailed due diligence on the operations of Mercantile.
The Board is pleased to advise shareholders that Capitec Bank’s offer of R3.2 billion, to be adjusted by any change in the net asset value of Mercantile from 30 April 2018 to the completion date of the transaction, when all conditions precedent have been met, has been accepted. The purchase consideration will be paid from capital and cash reserves.
The Board of Capitec Bank believes there are many opportunities in the market to serve small-to-medium enterprises and owner-managed businesses better, and the bank has commenced with a strategy to develop infrastructure to facilitate same. The acquisition of Mercantile will obviate the need to reinvent and create new systems and processes from scratch and thus fast track the bank’s objective to expand its focus to a broader bank strategy.
Mercantile’s core business offer is business banking for small- to medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs and it is therefore well positioned to align with Capitec Bank’s business banking strategy. It was offered for sale by its shareholder, Caixa Geral de Depósitos S.A., a Portuguese bank, because it is divesting from non-core operations outside of Portugal as part of its recapitalisation plan.
The transaction is subject to regulatory authority.
Shareholders will be informed once all regulatory approvals have been received and the transaction is final.
22 November 2018
Stellenbosch
Sponsor PSG Capital

Every four years the United States (US) vote in the midterm elections. What are they? How does voting work? And what are the key issues dominating this 2018's vote? Here is a dummies guide.
What are the midterm elections?
Americans votes for a new president every four years in a general election. Midterm elections occur halfway through a president's term and are usually held in November.
Midterm elections are not the same as state and local elections, which are held yearly.
What do Americans vote for in the midterms?
Americans vote for members of the Senate and the House of Representatives, which make up the upper and lower chambers of Congress. Congress is the legislative (i.e. law-making) branch of the US federal government.
The House of Representatives consists of 435 seats that are up for election every two years. One third (35) of seats in the Senate is also up for election as members of the Senate serve staggered six-year terms. Also up for grabs are 36 state governors' offices, three US territory governors' offices, many mayors' offices and local officials. Voters will also decide on ballot measures such as former felons' right to vote.
How does the Senate election work?
The Senate is composed of senators, each of whom represents a single state in its entirety, with each state being equally represented by two senators. The winners in each state are the candidates who receive a plurality of the popular vote.
To win the Senate, a party needs to win 51 seats. The Republicans currently hold 51 seats and the Democrats 49. However, out of the 35 seats up for election in 2018, 26 are held by Democrats. The party will therefore need to keep all 26 their seats and gain two seats to take control of the Senate – a tall order.
How does the House of Representatives election work?
To win the House, a party needs to win 218 of the 435 seats. The current House has 236 Republicans and 193 Democrats, with six vacant seats. The Democrats therefore need a net gain of 24 seats to win a majority.
The House is composed of representatives who sit in congressional districts that are allocated to each of the 50 states on a basis of population as measured by the US Census, with each district entitled to one representative. All representatives are directly elected.
The Republican Party currently controls both the House and the Senate.
What are the polls saying?
Polls are suggesting the Democrats are likely to win the House, while the Republicans will keep the Senate. Historically, the president's party is likely to lose the House in his first term. While unemployment is down and the economy is growing under President Donald Trump, Republicans are worried about his spending and greater voter turnout among Democrats could mean a victory for the blue party.
According to early predictions more than a dozen Republican-held seats have already flipped, while the Democrats appear to be holding onto their seats.
Why does it matter who wins?
With the Republicans controlling both the Senate and the House, the Trump administration has until now enjoyed the full support of Congress. If the Democrats control the House, they will be able to hinder Trump's ability to implement programs as he wishes. The party with a majority in the chamber also controls its committee chairmanships and has the power to issue subpoenas – so a Democrat-controlled House could enforce aggressive oversight of investigations of the president's administration, including alleged Russia collusion, Trump's business dealings and sexual assault allegations against him.
The House can also initiate impeachment proceedings against the president, although it would need a two-thirds majority in the Senate to remove him from office.
Do people actually vote in the midterms?
Voter turnout in the midterms is usually much lower than in the general elections, but this year seems to be a record year. Three days before the election, the New York Times reported that 31.5 million people had already voted in the absentee elections. According to the Pew Research Institute the number of votes cast in Democratic primaries for the House were 84% higher in July than at the same point in the 2014 midterm primaries.
What are the key issues?
Even though Trump is not on the ballot, he is at the centre of the 2018 election. The midterms are always seen as a referendum on the White House occupant but the billionaire businessman's unique approach and personality has taken the trend to a new level. Sending thousands of troops to the US-Mexico border to counter a migrant "invasion", questioning the validity of birth right citizenship and spreading stories of scandalous murders by undocumented immigrants, Trump and his Republicans are making immigration a closing argument of the campaign.
The Democrats, in turn, have focused on health care with the central message to voters being that if Republicans strengthen their grip on Congress, they will destroy health care, including coverage protections for people with pre-existing medical conditions.
What else?
This year's midterms are said to be the most expensive in the history of the US with a total of $5.2bn being spent on campaigning, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Source: News24

Now Chinese are opening their own Police Stations in South Africa, they have already opened 13 & this one was opened yesterday in PE.
They even teach police to speak Chinese so that the Chinese people don't struggle to communicate with them.
I want to say fake news, but somehow this along with Cyril's presidency makes me feel this is true, can anyone confirm?

The president says the aim is to build a county driven by enterprise and innovation, and develop an economy that is diverse, resistant and prosperous’
Local and international companies will announce various investment strategies for SA over the course of the inaugural investment conference on Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.
“With your presence here, you have chosen to walk along the path for growth, job creation and prosperity for the people in this country,” Ramaphosa told the more than 1,000 delegates at the opening of the event, adding that SA’s potential has been constrained in recent years.
“Our task to move our country forward is to build a social compact, to build our country and move our economy forward. [To] build a county driven by enterprise and innovation, to develop an economy that is diverse and resistant as well as prosperous,” he said.
“The history of injustice, which has seen the continued exclusion of millions of South Africans, particularly as it relates to skills and the ownership of assets, is the single greatest impediment to the development of our society.”
He said economic growth and job creation are at the centre of SA’s national agenda. This will move forward through the “ambitious and unprecedented drive” to raise at least $100bn over five years that was announced in April.
“We did so knowing no meaningful growth and job creation would be done without a massive surge in investment in our economy,” he said.
“Today a number of local and international companies will be coming forward to make announcements on investments they want to make to expand and invest in our economy.”
He said that SA has also received investment pledges from a number of other countries.
“In furtherance of this commitment, I call upon South African companies to engage with the investment envoys, to engage on their investment plans, including capital expenditure,” said Ramaphosa.
Over the course of the day, Ramaphosa said a number of pertinent issues will be raised, including policy uncertainty and regulatory obstacles investors have identified.
He said the government has been working with the World Bank to ease the process of doing business and creating a new foreign direct investment strategy for the country.
“We will reduce timelines, for investments to be affected with greater speed,” he said.
He said the government will also confront challenges in some of the largest state-owned enterprises (SOEs) that have experienced years of decline in governance, financial performance and have been eroded by corruption.
“The private sector plays the biggest role. Where we have played the role as the state, many of our own companies have faltered and stumbled along the way. It is essential that those companies be restored as drivers in the economy,” he said.
Touching on land reform, which has been a concern for investment, Ramaphosa said there is general agreement among most South Africans that it needed to be accelerated “not only to address the historical injustice perpetrated against the majority of our people, [but] … to effectively unlock the economic potential of our land”.
He said the government is providing certainty to those who own land, who need land and those looking to invest in SA’s economy.
“Our constitution should allay any fears that their factories will be expropriated. That shall not happen. Your investment will be protected.”
source: businesslive

New data from the Central Energy Fund shows that the petrol price is set to drop by 3c in November.
The possible decrease is attributed to a strengthening rand and a decrease in Brent crude oil prices.
South Africa’s petrol price jumped to a record-breaking R17.08 in October; this would be the first decrease in eight months.
The South African petrol price is set to drop by 3c per litre in November, the first drop in eight months, new data from the Central Energy Fund (CEF) shows.
But the news is not all good: the diesel price is set for a massive 35c per litre hike.
The possible decrease in the petrol price is attributed to a strengthening rand, and the global decrease in Brent crude oil prices, data from the CEF released on Wednesday shows.
The CEF is a state-owned entity mandated to manage PetroSA and Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) to secure South Africa’s national energy security.
Hugo Pienaar, senior economist at the Bureau for Economic Research at Stellenbosch University, said things are looking increasingly promising for consumers in South Africa.
“It is not only that the rand, on average, performed stronger against the US dollar, but the oil price also fell sharply from around $86 a barrel in early October, to around $76 today,” Pienaar told Business Insider South Africa.
He said the petrol price may decrease slightly or remain the same as October prices when a formal determination is made.
The local petrol price jumped to a record-breaking R17.08 inland in October, and R16.49 at the cost.
“I think the most important point is that the price [of petrol] will stay roughly the same, which in itself is positive after the sharp increases,” said Pienaar.
President Cyril Ramaphosa set up an inter-ministerial committee in July to investigate possible interventions the state can make to lessen the effect of petrol price hikes on South Africans.
The initial report was set to be completed by September, but has now been postponed to the end of November, energy minister Jeff Radebe said this week.
Source: Business Insider

President Cyril Ramaphosa has suspended the NPA's Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi pending the outcome of an inquiry into their fitness for office.
Jiba is the Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions and Mrwebi the Special Director of Public Prosecutions.
The announcement was made on Thursday afternoon. The inquiry will be led by former justice of the Constitutional Court Yvonne Mokgoro.
In a letter to Jiba and Mrwebi Ramaphosa said: "I have taken into account the serious nature of allegations that you are unfit to be in so high an office, where the work of our criminal justice system is central to the critical and pressing matter of all prosecutions, especially prosecution of corruption cases and safeguard of our public purse.
"You hold a senior position with influence over a large swathe of the NPA. It is the interest of the NPA’s image as a whole that I consider here, and of the integrity of an enquiry (sic) that must result in the clearest and most convincing conclusions about the integrity, and sound leadership of the NPA."
*This is a developing story.
Source: news24